The Parent Trap
by goddess of the water
Summary: Emma Taylor has been hiding out in Julie's room for three days...and hiding a secret that can affect almost everyone on Wisteria Lane. Finally updated!
1. Default Chapter

The Parent Trap

DH Fanfic

Susan Mayer had now found herself in quite a predicament. Julie had been hiding her best friend from two years ago, Emma Taylor, in her room for the past three days secretly until Susan had walked in on Emma watching the third Lord of the Rings movie. Julie had just left for her dad's, ordering Emma to tell her why she was here. So far, Emma had remained silent and Susan had no idea what to say to her. Walking cautiously up to Julie's room, Susan opened up the door to find Emma staring sadly at a worn looking photograph. "You okay?"

Emma looked up, startled. "Mrs. Mayer!"

"Obviously not." Susan said sarcastically, sitting down next to her on Julie's bed. Emma quickly covered up the photograph. "I'm fine." she defended.

"Julie did tell you to tell me why you were here." Susan reminded her.

"I know. But I can't...because you're going to kill Julie."

"I can assure you that I won't kill Julie." Susan said with a smile.

Emma sighed and pulled the photo out from under the pillow. "These are my parents." she said quietly. "I just found out who my dad was and um..." Emma handed her the picture, biting her lip.

Susan took the photo from Emma and stared at the man in the photo, convinced that she was hallucinating. "No." Susan said in disbelief. Her mouth opened and closed multiple times in succession. "That-that's impossible. That can't be Mike. Maybe he has a..twin brother that was with your mom. He-he would have told me if he had a kid, I know it!"

Emma remained silent and Susan realized there was more to this little story. "That's the thing. Um, he-he doesn't know." Emma admitted.

"Oh." Susan said, biting her own lip. "Are you here to tell him?"

Emma looked downward. "I can't. He'll think I'm an idiot. Besides, he hasn't seen or heard from my mom since he left her. It'll make him angry at her for not at least trying to tell him."

Susan shook her head. "He's always wanted kids, he'll be excited. Maybe angry at first, but he'll love you."

"How do you know? You aren't his girlfriend anymore." Emma snapped.

Susan was taken aback and Emma quickly apologized. "I'm sorry. I just don't know how to tell him. Can you talk to him?"

"Em, we used to be involved. I don't want him getting the wrong idea." Susan lied.

"Maybe I should just leave." Emma said quietly.

"No, no, sweetie, I didn't mean that at all. I'll call him. Okay?"

Emma nodded as tears began to escape her eyes. Susan pulled her into a hug, murmuring reassurances in her ear. "He'll love you. I promise."

Emma sniffed and held onto Susan tighter, needing comfort and reassurance. Tears began to fall from Susan's eyes as well. Who was that man to put this sweet child through this?

Later that night, Emma had fallen asleep early and Susan was holding the phone reluctantly to her ear, listening to the other line ring insistently. "Hello?" a man's voice answered from the other end.

Susan's mouth opened and closed a few times without saying anything, remembering the wonderful horror of that voice.

"Hello?" the man asked again, sounding impatient.

"Mike?" she managed to squeak.

He seemed to recognize the sound of her voice immediately. "Susan! I'm so glad you called.. I really need to talk to you. Can I come over?"

"That might not be such a good idea." Susan stammered.

"Then why did you call?" he asked, trying to be discreet.

"There...um...there's someone here you need to see-talk to."

"Susan. I only want to talk to you. I love you so much, please don't give up on me."

Susan blinked back tears. "How am I supposed to trust you?"

Mike was silent and Susan heard a distant click, knowing the extension was being turned on. "Emma, say something."

There was no answer from her.

"Emma, I know you're on the extension. Say something." Susan ordered.

"Hello moto." Emma said with a small laugh.

Susan rolled her eyes. "Um, Susan? Did you just say hello moto?" Mike questioned, sounding amused.

Emma froze, still holding the extension. "I'm hanging up now. Emma, stay on the line." Susan commanded.

Emma heard the phone click and she swallowed as she realized who was on the line. "Say something." Susan hissed from the doorway.

Not comprehending that the extension was still in her hands, Emma started screaming, her lid flipped wide open. "What am I supposed to say! Hi, I'm you're illegitimate daughter you've never heard of!" The sound of a dial tone filled the room and Emma stared at the extension in shock.

"You couldn't have just said hello?" Susan sighed.

"What did you think it was going to be? I'd tell him and then we'd skip through the park eating ice cream? Come on."

"Well you could have said something besides that." Susan defended.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter anyway." Emma snapped.

"How can you say that?"

Emma shrugged and turned away from her. A loud knock sounded on the door downstairs and Susan ran down to answer it, knowing who it was. Watching the departing Susan in mounting fear, she shut the door to Julie's room and locked it. "Hey, Mrs. Mayer, can you bring me some popcorn!" she shouted, turning on the first movie she saw on the night stand.

Susan rolled her eyes as she heard Emma's demand and instead opened the door for Mike. "Hi." she said quietly.

Mike swallowed. "How long have you known?"

Susan checked her watch. "Twenty minutes."

Mike managed a weak smile. "Where is she?"

"Upstairs in Julie's room demanding popcorn. The door's locked."

"Don't you have a key?" Mike questioned irritably.

"I think Julie took it when she hid Zach in her room." Susan mused. "But I'm not really sure where it is now."

Mike sighed. "You can't find the key to your own daughter's room?"

"Hey, don't mock my parenting skills." Susan ordered. She reached a hand up to the top of her refrigerator and shouted "Eureka!" as she felt a key under the palm of her hand. She stood up on the counter so she could see the key more clearly. The second she had reached up to grab it, her foot slipped on the counter and she fell off with a small squeal. Mike ran over to her the second she hit the floor and sat down next to her, pulling her gently into his arms. "Are you okay?" he asked, worry evident in his gaze. Susan nodded weakly, her head falling onto his chest reluctantly. He began to stroke her hair softly. "Thanks." she murmured.

Mike turned Susan to face him and whispered back "Anytime." He leaned in and kissed her lips softly before helping her to her feet. Susan rubbed her lips self-consciously and pulled away from Mike. "Are you sure you're okay?" he questioned, touching her hair again. Susan nodded, handing Mike the key to Julie's room. He smiled at her and headed upstairs, Susan right behind him. He stopped outside Julie's room and handed the key to Susan silently. She knocked on the door and called "Emma, I'm going to give you one chance to open the door." She waited a few seconds before inserting the key into the lock and entering the room. "Are you okay?" Susan asked quietly.

"Not really." Emma replied sarcastically.

Susan sighed and sat down next to her, conscious of Mike in the doorway. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Maybe. I just really screwed things up is all. But..."

"But what?" Susan inquired.

"Julie told me why the two of you, you know, broke up."

"Oh, that." Susan said, feeling Mike's eyes boring into her back.

"I know what happened. The truth. And its not what you might think it is."

"Can we not talk about this now?" Susan injected, willing herself not to glance at Mike.

"He would do the same for you, you know." Emma remarked quietly.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, um, nothing." Emma said quickly. "You don't want to talk about it, remember?"

"No, no. Go on. What do you mean, he would do the same for you?"

Emma shifted uncomfortably. "Um..."

"You wanted to tell me a minute ago."

"I lose resolve easily. Plus, your issues with trust are your business."

"Please?" Susan asked.

Emma bit her lip and turned towards the door. Seeing a shadow in the sliver of light coming from the doorway, she jumped and quickly said "Mrs. Mayer, there's someone watching us!"

Mike closed his eyes in disgust with himself. Susan got off Julie's bed and bit her lip. "Um, Emma, this is Mike Delfino."

A small attempt at speech came from Emma's lips, but it was unintelligible. "Who is he?" she lied, attempting a smile.

"Emma." Susan warned.

"What? I don't recall hearing that name before is all." Emma said, looking visibly nervous. She chanced another glance at the shadow. Susan followed her gaze. "Can you just talk to him?"

Emma shrugged. "I don't know him. I withhold judgement." She glanced at Mike again before turning back to Susan. "If you insist." She crossed her arms and leaned back on the bed.

Susan gave Mike a pained glance before leaving the room. Mike crossed the room and sat down in a chair across from Emma. An uncomfortable silence lingered. "Did-did you ever find out what happened to my mom?" Emma asked.

Mike looked at the ground. "She-she's been dead thirteen years."

"Oh." Emma said quietly, looking at the floor. She blinked before staring at the ceiling, cursing Susan under her breath.

"What was that?" Mike inquired.

Emma looked back down with a start. "Oh! Nothing, sorry." She stared at the floor again. "So, um, how are you?"

"I'm not the priority here." Mike said, going over to the bed and sitting down next to her. He touched her hair gently. "Are you okay?"

Emma looked confused. "I'm fine. I have no life, but you know...I survive." She blinked back tears. "Do you know how she died?"

Mike looked away again. "We're not exactly sure. Her body was stuffed into a toy chest...she was dismembered."

Emma couldn't hold her tears back any longer and began sobbing quietly. Mike pulled her into his arms and let her cry. "I'm sorry." she sobbed. "I-I just never knew her. I kept hoping she was alive, just so I could see her."

Mike stroked Emma's hair and murmured "Its okay. You can cry...you have every right to. You've been through more than any teenager should."

Emma sniffed. "I'm so stupid, crying over someone I didn't even know."

"I understand." Mike said, touching her hair again. "So how do you know Susan?"

"Oh, Julie and I went to the same school. I think I came here once while you two were dating...but I'm not sure."

"How do you like her?" Mike asked suddenly.

"Who, Susan?"

Mike nodded and Emma laughed. "You want my approval?" She smiled. "I really like her. I don't know her all that well but...she's been really nice to me since I've been here. Especially considering everything that's happened."

Mike smiled, thinking of Susan. "Um, M-Mr. Delfino?" Emma questioned.

"At least call me Mike." he said, smiling at her.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I just... I love her. So much."

"I can tell. That's impressive, actually, considering I've known you five minutes."

Mike rolled his eyes at her and got into the more pressing question on his mind. "Where have you been living all this time?"

"Pine Avenue." Emma answered automatically. "My mom was renting a room there, and when she never came back from this bar she had gone to, I just stayed where I was. I always hoped she'd come back."

Mike stared at her for a long time before speaking again. "So you don't know Noah, or Kendra?"

"No, but I assume they're family members."

"You assume correctly." Mike sighed. "Your mom's sister, and your mom's father."

"Oh." Emma said, looking thoughtful.

"So if you've been on Pine Avenue all this time, how did you know that I was your father?" Mike had to ask.

Emma grinned. "A little thing I like to call the Internet."

"You can find that stuff on the Internet?"

"Well, I had some clues. When you were a subject in that lady's murder, your picture was in the paper. I already had a picture of my mom and a guy who looked like you, so I asked my adopted parents some questions. They spilled that you were the father, so I came here."

Mike raised his eyebrows skeptically. "That's it?"

"What were you expecting, a war story?" Emma said, slightly annoyed.

Mike wisely decided not to respond. "So, um, I'm going to sleep now." Emma said, chancing a nervous glance at him.

Mike quickly stood up. "How about breakfast tomorrow? There's still a lot we need to talk about."

Emma smiled. "Breakfast sounds...great."

"Alright. So...I'll see you tomorrow morning then."

"See you then." she said, still smiling.

Mike smiled at her once before leaving the room and heading back downstairs. Susan immediately accosted him. "How's it go?" she asked nervously.

Mike shrugged. "All the details are still a little vague."

"Details?"

"You know, stuff like where she's been, stuff about her mom."

"Oh. Was she the blonde woman in the picture?"

Mike nodded. Susan wracked her brain for something else to talk about, but Mike beat her to it. "Deirdre has a lot to do with what happened."

Susan raised her eyebrows, trying desperately not to look interested.


	2. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry for the delay, I've been really busy. Sorry if this chapter is short, another one is written and should be on the way soon. Plus it looked longer on paper. By the way, chapters one and two were in the first update, this is chapter 3.

Disclaimer: If DH was mine, I wouldn't be sitting here writing fanfic about it. All belongs to ABC except half the plot and Emma.

Regaining her composure, Susan smiled slowly at Mike. "Are you excited?"

Mike nodded, conflict evident in his eyes. "Look, Susan, I can't give you a truthful answer until you know the whole story...but overall, yes, I am excited."

Susan bit her lip, tears starting to well up in her eyes at his answer. She turned away from him and wiped her eyes. "Would it be so bad just to listen to what he has to say?" a nagging voice in one side of her head suggested.

"I can't be in a relationship with a man who lies to me." the other side answered automatically.

"But you love him." the other voice continued.

"I loved Karl, too, and look how that ended up." the other side snapped.

"Mike isn't Karl." the voice said forcefully.

The real Mike tapped Susan on the shoulder gently. "Susan?" he inquired softly.

"Hi." she mumbled, snapping out of her internal argument. "Do you still have the letter?"

"What?" Mike said, not sure that he heard correctly.

"The letter that you wrote me. The one I gave back. Do you still have it?"

"Of course." Mike answered, trying to ignore the hope starting to fill him.

Susan turned back to him. "Bring it by tomorrow."

"I'll be here around ten or so to pick up Emma for breakfast. Should I bring the letter then?"

Susan shrugged and headed for the stairs. "Goodnight, Mike."

"Sleep well, beautiful." he murmured, leaving the house and heading back to his own.

"Emma! Wake up, Mike will be here soon!" Susan shouted from downstairs where she was nervously pouring a cup of coffee.

"Coming!" Emma shouted back, holding a skirt in front of her legs. "Nah, too slutty." she muttered, throwing it onto the bed with the other rejected clothes.

"Emma!" Susan shouted again in desperation.

Emma sighed and decided to ignore her, giving her full concentration to the pile of rejected clothes on the bed. After she had picked out a dark blue T-shirt and a pair of jeans, Emma heard a bell ring from downstairs. Worry entering her normally calm enough face, she grabbed a pair of tennis shoes and ran down the stairs, running a hand through her dirty blonde hair nervously.

"Mrs. Mayer, do I look okay?" Emma asked.

Susan turned around and surveyed Emma. "You look fine." she replied with a smile. "What about me?"

"You're fine too." Emma said, grinning to herself. "You and Julie should come to breakfast with us, it'll be fun!"

"Julie? But she's at..." Susan started. A horn blew from outside and Julie's head appeared at the door. Karl glanced at Susan and gave her an uncertain wave, which she returned while letting Julie in the door. "Emma!" Julie exclaimed, hugging her best friend tightly. "Did you talk to Mike?"

"We're going to breakfast in a few minutes."

Julie squealed and hugged Emma again as the doorbell rang. Susan paled. Julie turned to her mom to hug her, but noticed how pale she was. "Are you okay?" she inquired.

Susan nodded. "I'm fine." she lied.

Julie looked skeptical but decided not to push the issue and instead went over to open the door for Mike. The second he entered, he headed over to Susan and gave her a soft, passionate kiss on the lips. Julie and Emma looked on, both a mixture between shocked and confused. When he pulled away, Mike murmured "Something else for you to think about." and handed Susan the letter. Julie glanced at her mom in confusion. Were she and Mike back together? Susan looked just as shocked as the two teenagers at Mike's greeting but took the letter nonetheless. The room filled with an awkward silence. "Um, I guess we should go." Mike suggested. Emma nodded, glancing at Susan once before following Mike out the door. "Mom, what's going on? I thought you gave Mike's letter back to him." Julie said, glancing suspiciously at her mother.

"I asked for it back." Susan replied quietly.

"Why would you do that if you don't trust him?"

"Because I'm insane." Susan mumbled.

Julie looked at her sympathetically. "I'm gonna go try to get some of my homework done before Emma gets back."

Susan smiled weakly. "See you in a minute."

Over the next day, while Julie went to school, Emma watched movies in Julie's room, and Susan stared at Mike's letter, aimlessly debating whether to open it or not; Mike was trying to find the courage to mention Emma's sudden appearance to Noah.

"Have you got anything else on Deirdre's case?" Noah asked immediately

"Nothing besides the fact that Paul Young bought one of the same kinds of toy chests her body was discovered in." Mike replied, growing nervous. This was the perfect interlude to the speech he had prepared, but he just couldn't find the will to tell Noah that his daughter had a child he was told nothing about.

"Noah,..." Mike started, trailing off.

Mike was saved from saying anything else by the entrance of Noah's other daughter, Kendra.

"What's going on down here?" she questioned, looking from Mike to Noah.

"I was just about to tell..." Mike continued, not able to find the right words.

"Tell me what, Mike?" Noah asked with raised eyebrows.

Mike took a breath and decided just to say it. "I have a child."

Kendra stared at him. "You got Susan pregnant?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"No, not with her." he said, glaring over at Kendra.

Noah was the first one to catch on. "Deirdre."

Mike nodded. "She showed up at a house across the street from me. I only spoke to her for maybe fifteen minutes, but she looked about fourteen."

"So how-how do you know she was Deirdre's? I mean, she could be mistaken." Kendra pointed out.

"She's been living on Pine Avenue, her mother disappeared at a bar, she knows what happened with Antony, and she and Deirdre would have quite a stunning resemblance if they weren't related."

Noah still looked unconvinced. "Can I meet this girl, then?"

"When?"

"How about tomorrow? Bring her here around one." Kendra suggested, making sure it sounded more like an order than an option.

Mike nodded. "I'll talk to her about it."

A/N2- So I'll have Ch4 up as soon as I can...but for now...review to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! (LOL!)


	3. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own DH. Everything except Emma and maybe three quarters of the plot belongs to the wonderful Marc Cherry and those "nice" executives at ABC who REFUSE TO PLAY THE COMMERCIAL FOR THE FINALE! takes a deep breath and blushes at readers

Chapter 4:

"Already?" Emma questioned. "They want to meet me already! Its only been two days!"

Mike had no idea what to say. "I know, I know."

"What am I supposed to say to them? What do they want from me? What if I'm not what they're expecting?" Emma ranted, turning away form Mike so he couldn't see the nervous tears welling up in her eyes.

Mike came up behind her and touched her shoulder. "Hey, it'll be fine. I promise."

"Yeah, okay." Emma said sarcastically.

"They don't want to murder you, they just want to meet you." Mike consoled.

"And see if I'm really who I say I am. I'm not stupid, Mike."

"Just be polite. I'll take care of the rest, alright?" Mike replied, stroking her hair. Emma nodded and let Mike pull her into a hug.

"When do we leave?" she mumbled into his shoulder.

"About two hours."

"So I guess I'll see you then?"

"Yeah." Mike said softly, pulling Emma out of his arms reluctantly and leaving the room.

A few hours later, Emma was waiting outside on the Mayer's driveway for Mike, shivering from the wind and nervousness about meeting her family. Mike pulled up to the driveway and honked the horn, pulling Emma out of her thoughts. She plastered on a fake smile and got into the truck. Any wrong word could give these people a million reasons to say she wasn't really Deirdre's daughter, and the thought scared her immensely.

"You're going to be fine, I promise." Mike reassured her. "Kendra really isn't all that bad and Noah,...well, he's Noah."

The comment made Emma smile. "What's that mean?" she joked, grinning at Mike. He smiled back as they pulled up to a huge house. Emma stared out the window in shock. "They live here?" she asked, taken aback by the size of the house.

Mike nodded. "I forgot to tell you, your mom's family is pretty rich."

"That's a little obvious now, considering how huge that house is." Emma replied, still staring at the house. A security guard quickly came down the hill and stopped in front of them. "ID?" he questioned, his face hard and unrelenting.

"Mike Delfino." Mike said immediately.

"Who's the girl?" the security guard replied.

"Emma Taylor. She's expected." Mike said before Emma could respond.

The security guard nodded and moved out of the way to give them access to the house. Noah was waiting for them on the veranda. "Stay here for a second." Mike said to Emma, heading up to the house. She shrugged off his order and walked down to the footbridge near the water, staring out at it broodingly.

"Where is she?" Noah asked.

"Right over-" Mike started. He turned around and realized that Emma was no longer standing in the driveway. "There. At least she was." Mike looked around again, still seeing no sign of Emma.

Noah stared over the railing of the veranda and toward the footbridge. "I'll be right back."

Mike followed Noah with his eyes as he limped onto the path to the footbridge. Confused, he looked out at the bridge itself and saw a blonde figure staring over the railing. "Just like Deirdre." he thought, shaking his head and following Noah's path to the footbridge.

"You must be Emma."

Emma turned sharply, dragged abruptly out of her train of thought for the second time that day. "Um, yeah." she replied, surveying the man in front of her. "You must be Noah, because you're not Mike, and I assumed Kendra was a woman."

"You assume correctly." Noah said, reaching a hand out for Emma to shake.

She took it and shook it cautiously. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well."

"You're limping." Emma said, staring suspiciously at Noah's cane.

"You sound surprised. Mike didn't tell you I have cancer?"

Emma shook her head. "Is it terminal?"

He nodded. "Apparently its pressing on my brain."

"Oh." she said quietly. "I'm sorry."

Mike walked in between them. "I thought I told you to stay on the driveway." he told Emma scoldingly.

"Its quite alright. She just wanted a look around." Noah interrupted.

Emma smiled. "I really like you house."

Footsteps clattered onto the bridge and the three of them instinctively turned to face the newcomer. "What's going on here?" Kendra asked.

"That's becoming your routine greeting, isn't it?" Mike sighed, staring out at the water.

Kendra rolled her eyes and looked at Emma. "So you're Deirdre's daughter?"

The skepticism in her voice made Emma want to slap her. "I am." she said, staring up at Kendra confidently.

The tension wasn't lost on Mike and Noah and they quickly attempted to change the subject. "Are you hungry? Lunch should be ready soon." Mike asked, giving Emma a worried glance.

"Lunch sounds great." she replied flatly, not looking at Kendra.

Kendra looked guilty, but had too much pride to apologize to her; instead just following her father inside. The second Emma entered the house, she gasped. She couldn't help it. She hadn't been inside a house this big in her life, and couldn't imagine living in one. Noah had to smile at her shock as he showed her to the family room. "Oh, crap." Emma thought, noticing the bright, fluorescent light hanging from the ceiling. Kendra flipped the switch to turn on the light and Emma's apprehension grew. "Okay, you can get through this. Just breathe." she told herself silently, trying to ignore the nervousness gnawing at her.

Minutes later, Emma was too dizzy to even eat. Mike was glancing at her every few seconds, trying to figure out what was wrong with her. Emma knew she had to leave the room before any of them picked up on her secret. "Is there a bathroom here?"

"Down the hall, and to the left." Mike replied, looking over at Noah; who nodded.

Emma smiled weakly and left the room, trying her hardest not to stumble. The second she reached the bathroom, she fell forward and had to grab the sink to keep standing. She breathed heavily. That was close.

When fifteen minutes had passed and Emma still hadn't returned, Mike stood up. "I'm going to go check on her."

Kendra stood up as well. "No, I'll go. You barely know your way around this house, and if some kind of emergency happened in the bathroom, I doubt she'll want you walking in on her." she said with a grin.

Mike nodded and sat back down, still looking worried. Kendra left the room and headed for the bathroom. Once she reached the door, Kendra knocked softly. "Emma, you in there?" When there was no reply, Kendra knocked again. "I'm serious, you in there?"

When noone answered again, Kendra reached for the doorknob. It was unlocked, and she stepped through the door to find Emma on the floor, clutching her head with her eyes closed. Her position looked vaguely familiar, and in seconds Kendra had remembered when this happened before. She headed over to Emma and propped her up. "Kendra?" Emma questioned woozily.

"Shh, don't say anything." Kendra ordered, wetting a cloth and placing it across Emma's forehead.

"I-I'm fine." she said faintly.

Kendra ignored her claim. "Lay back."

Emma rolled her eyes, but followed the direction.

"Emma, this used to happen to my sister all the time. She was a heroin addict." Kendra said quietly, brushing her hair away form her eyes.

"I'm not on drugs. My mom was in rehab when I was born. At least that's what the people taking care of me said." Emma said indignantly.

"You must have just gotten the symptoms, then." Kendra said, sounding sorry for her. "Feel any better?"

Emma nodded. "Thanks."

Kendra smiled at her. "No problem. I'm guessing Mike doesn't know about this."

"Correct."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know."

"Why wouldn't you tell him?"

"Because I don't want to be treated like a head case!" Emma said loudly, sitting up.

"Lay back down." Kendra said softly, gently pulling Emma back down towards the floor. "You don't have to yell. I get it. It's the exact same reason Deirdre resisted going to rehab for so long. I just don't want you to end up like her."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Kendra sighed. "My sister swore off anyone who ever cared about her. My father, me, Mike. I don't want you to be like that."

"I'll tell him eventually.' Emma said, glancing over at her.

"Its your life. We should go back out there, Mike's worried sick."

Emma nodded and let Kendra help her to her feet. "Thanks." she said gratefully.

"Don't mention it."

When Emma and Kendra reentered the family room and began eating, there was an obvious closeness between the two. When Noah glanced at them in confusion, they both pretended they didn't notice; leaving Mike and Noah just to guess at what had happened.

A/n: Whew...that was long. I don't really know if people pass on the effects of drugs to their children, it was an idea I had when I found out that...oh you'll find out later:). So until I finish writing chapter five, click that attractive-looking little blue button and leave me a review!


	4. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry it took so long...I've been swimming all week.

"Now that wasn't that bad, was it?" Mike asked on the way back to the Mayer's.

"Not really." Emma admitted, leaning back in her seat. "The food was good."

Mike laughed. "I meant meeting Noah and Kendra."

"Oh, well, they're all right." she replied, unbuckling her seatbelt as he pulled up in front of the Mayer house. She got out of the truck and waved as Mike's car pulled away. Sighing, she headed into the house and called out "Hey, I'm back!"

Susan came into the living room. "Hey, how'd it go?"

Emma hesitated for a moment, thinking of saying something about her little episode in the bathroom; before saying "Oh, it was good. They're both really nice." while avoiding Susan's gaze.

So caught up in her own thoughts of Mike and his letter, Susan didn't pick up on Emma's obvious worry and just smiled. "That's great, sweetie."

Emma smiled back and headed upstairs to Julie's room. Julie immediately turned when she entered. "Oh, hey Emma." she greeted.

"Hey." Emma replied, plopping down on Julie's bed. "What's up?"

"I'm bored."

"Me too." Emma paused, noticing a DVD case open on Julie's computer desk. "What's that?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, come on. I know its something."Emma pressed.

"Fine. You swear you won't say anything?"

"Of course."

Julie threw the case at Emma. "My favorite movie."

"Oh my God, mine too!" Emma exclaimed.

"You're not serious."

"Totally. The Parent Trap is awesome."

"You wanna watch it?" Julie suggested.

"Sure." Emma replied with a shrug.

Julie turned on the movie and they were both completely caught up in it. "I love this part." Emma mumbled near the end of the movie.

"Emma...you said you knew what happened with Mike." Julie started, looking over at her.

Confused, Emma nodded. "Vaguely. Why?"

"If I asked you to tell me what happened, would you?" she continued nervously. "Hypothetically, of course." she added quickly.

"Um, yeah. I mean, I don't know a lot of the details. It would probably be better just to read the letter Mike gave your mom."

"There's only the small detail that the letter was addressed to Mom and she's kept it under constant surveillance since Mike gave it back." Julie pointed out.

"You're right." Emma sighed. "All I know about it is that he did whatever he did to a cop that was threatening his life, and my mom's."

"That really is vague." Julie commented.

"Which is exactly what I told you."

"It must be too graphic for details."

"I have no idea. Sorry." Emma said quietly.

"Its okay, I'm just really annoyed with my mom. If she wants to know what happened so bad, why doesn't she just read the stupid letter!"

"We could take the letter and reseal it." Emma suggested maliciously.

"My mom would kill me."

"Yeah..."

"It was a good thought, though."

Emma managed a quiet laugh. Julie sighed. "How can we get her to read that letter?"

"I don't know. She's your mom."

"You tell her!"

"Huh?"

"Tell her what you told me, that it was about a cop threatening Mike and your mom!" Julie replied, obviously excited. "She'll get back together with him and everything will be back to normal!"

"But she doesn't trust him." Emma said. "Unless he tells her what happened and she can believe his side of the story, they shouldn't be dating at all."

"What are you talking about?"

"What if something else like this comes up? What if Mike has another secret he doesn't think of when they're back together? Then all of this crap is gonna repeat, or she's gonna end up stalking him and driving him off."

Julie was silent for a moment before speaking again. "You just don't get how unhappy she is when she's not with him. She mopes around here and barely talks to anyone. The one date she went on since the breakup she spent the entire time talking about Mike, got the poor guy fired, and got into a car accident."

"She spent the whole time talking about Mike?" Emma laughed. "Poor guy."

"She kept it going for hours."

Emma took a deep breath to calm her laughter. "We have to get her to read that letter!" she sighed, flopping onto Julie's bed dejectedly. "Or noone in Fairview will ever survive a date again."

Julie smiled, both trying to think of a way to get Susan to trust Mike again.

Poker that night had been rescheduled to five because all the women had conflicting plan for the day. When five finally rolled around, Susan stuck Mike's half-open envelope on the refrigerator and prepared for the rush. Emma came down stairs for some water as Edie entered the house. "Hey, Mrs. Mayer, where are the cups?" Emma asked from the kitchen.

"Um, in the cabinet to the left of the refrigerator." Susan called back while searching the living room for a deck of cards. Emma exited the kitchen and ran straight into Edie. She froze.

"No way." Edie muttered under her breath.

"Um, hi, Edie." Emma said nervously.

"You've been here all this time! What the hell is your problem! Do you have any idea how worried they've been about you!"

Emma shrugged.

"I'm calling my parents and telling them you're here." Edie announced, pulling out her cell phone.

"I never liked you." Emma snapped, crossing her arms across her chest. This was all being done way too fast.

Susan entered the room and stared at Edie.

"What's going on out here?" she demanded.

"She ran away from home, my parent's house. They've been out of their minds for days trying to find her. Well, more than usual anyway." Edie let out a small, girly laugh and began to dial.

"Wait." Susan said quickly. Emma let out a deep breath.

Edie ignored her and kept dialing.

"She's Mike's, Edie."

Edie paused in her dialing. "Mike doesn't have any children. I thought you, of all people, should know that." She pushed another button and held the phone to her ear. Emma suddenly had an idea. "Fine. Call them. But when they call me, I'm, going to tell Mom and Dad exactly where you're staying; and how desperately you want them to visit you. I'm sure they'd be so proud."

Edie paused and hung up the phone in disgust.

"I just knew you'd see it my way." Emma said sarcastically. Susan stared at Emma in amazement, but she just smiled like it was nothing. "I'm going upstairs. If she tries to call, tell me." Emma headed for the stairs. "It sure was great seeing you again, Edie." she called cheerfully over her shoulder.

"Wench." Edie muttered, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

Susan swallowed her grin as her three other friends: Gabrielle, Bree, and Lynette; arrived at the house.

"Susan's been harboring another runaway." Edie announced drily halfway through the game.

Gabrielle looked up from her cards in confusion. "Huh?"

Susan glared over at Edie.

"I thought you learned your lesson when Zach Young was here hiding out from a mental institution." Lynette commented.

"This is different." Susan leaned forward to capture her friends' attention. "She's Mike's daughter."

"I didn't think Mike had any children." Bree replied, trying not to look confused.

"I didn't think so either, but apparently he does. Emma was hiding up in Julie's room; and when she got caught she told me Mike was her father. They've already met and everything." She sounded excited.

"You sound excited." Bree observed with a smile.

Susan smiled. "I am." She paused before hastily adding "For Mike, of course. He's always wanted kids."

Gabrielle and Lynette exchanged knowing looks, but said nothing; both just smirking down at their cards smugly.

After poker that night, Susan sighed and took the envelope off the refrigerator. Julie and Emma watched in fearful anticipation as Susan slid a piece of paper out of the envelope and began to read it. She put it down after about five seconds, groaning. Emma hung her head and Julie buried her face in her hands. "We need to stage some kind of intervention." Julie decided. "This could take years."

"We can't make Mike or your mom go through that." Emma agreed. "We need a plan."

"I think I have the perfect inspiration." Julie said deviously, dangling a DVD case towards Emma. Emma returned the grin and followed Julie up the stairs, hoping that this would work.

After watching The Parent Trap for the second time, Julie and Emma both deliriously agreed that Mike and Susan totally belonged together; and each of them would do anything to make that happen. Neither of them had any way of knowing that fate had other plans for the two girls that week.

A/N; So that's the long-awaited(hopefully:) update. Please review and I'll try to have Ch 6 up ASAP!


	5. Chapter 6

A/N: This( I think) is a pretty long one. And I think this chapter will answer some of your questions, shoppinggal87, if you saw episode 14. Sorry this update took forever.

"Wait. So you're telling me that Edie is Emma's adopted sister?" Mike asked incredulously while across from Susan at a local bagel place.

Susan nodded, taking a bite out of her bagel. "I wonder why Emma was so freaked out about calling them though." she said thoughtfully, swirling the thin, red straw around in her coffee cup.

"What do you mean?" he asked, taking a bite out of his own bagel.

"The second Edie picked up her phone, Emma kinda freaked out. She bribed Edie with telling them exactly where she was staying." Susan smiled at the memory of the shock on Edie's face. "Apparently Edie and her parents aren't too close."

Mike smiled, but still looked mildly worried.

Susan noticed this. "What is it?" she questioned, taking another sip of coffee.

"I was going to...ask Emma to come and live with me. You know, adopt her officially. But even if she doesn't have a good relationship with her adopted parents...I don't want them to keep worrying about her and assume that she died or something." Mike confided. "I'm sure they do care about her."

Susan nodded. "Why don't you tell her that?"

"I still don't really know her that well."

"I'm sure she'll be really excited." Susan confidently.

Mike nodded at her gratefully and stood up to leave. "I really appreciate you telling me about Edie and everything."

"No problem." she replied quietly, taking yet another drink of coffee. "I guess I'll see you later?"

"Sure." Mike said with a sad smile, turning to leave.

"I can't see them." Emma said adamantly for the second time. After having an excited, happy reaction to moving in with Mike, she had started to freak out when it came to talking to her adopted parents.

Kendra looked on nervously, but let Mike do the talking. She was going to be his daughter, it really wasn't her place to intervene.

"Emma, if you want to move in with me; we have to get your stuff." Mike explained gently.

"We can! I have a key, we can sneak in-"

"Emma." Mike interrupted. "You legally belong to-'"

"My mother! That's who I legally belong to, okay? They never bothered to adopt me, I don't belong to anyone except Deirdre Taylor's dismembered corpse!" Emma yelled, angry no.

Noah stepped right into the argument. "I could make talking to them worth it."

"Worth what?" Emma snapped, mildly interested.

"Noah." Mike warned.

Noah walked into the other room and came back with a box, which he gestured towards Emma. "Will this suffice?"

Emma took the box from him cautiously and examined it. She turned back to him with a confused glance. "You're buying me off?"

"Let's just call it a consolation prize."

"Its an Ipod." Emma said slowly, examining the box again. "And its green. My favorite color." She smiled at him and began to open the box.

Mike grabbed her arm and she glared at him. "You're not being bought off." he said angrily, trying to take the Ipod from her.

"This is the only way I'll go." Emma replied, refusing to let go of the box.

Mike released the Ipod, still glaring at her.

"See, Mike, its all about priorities." Noah said, sounding slightly smug.

Mike shook his head, defeated.

"Hey, do you have any idea how to download songs on these?" Emma questioned.

Mike shook his head again and Kendra did the same.

"Sorry." Kendra said with a shrug.

Emma admired her new, green Ipod for a moment. "Do you have a computer?"

Kendra nodded. "Its upstairs in the library. Did you want to use it?"

"Yeah, if that's okay."

"Just a few minutes though, I told Susan I'd have you home for dinner." Mike injected.

She glanced over at him and shrugged. "Okay."

Kendra led Emma upstairs and Mike glared over at Noah. "Did you really have to do that?"

"Do what?" Noah asked calmly.

"Give her that for talking to her parents."

"Oh. Well, as you probably know by now, I've been in the same situation with Deirdre. I assumed that since Emma was her daughter, the strategy would have the same results. And it did."

"She's not Deirdre." Mike growled angrily. "No matter how alike they may seem."

"Who are you to make that assumption? You've known her for how long, maybe a week?" Noah replied swiftly, turning to the door.

"She's a good kid." Mike defended quietly.

Noah ignored this statement. "This by no means affects your job. You're still to go on fixing the neighbor's pipes. Keep a close eye on Paul Young while you're at it."

"But..." Mike started.

"If this is going to be an issue, Emma can simply move in here." Noah said cooly.

Mike immediately quieted, glaring at the floor as Noah exited the room.

"You want us to come with you?" Susan questioned over dinner that night.

"If its not too much trouble. Ipod or no Ipod, I'm gonna need emotional support." Emma replied, grimacing as she swallowed a bite of watery macaroni and cheese.

"Will Mike mind?" Julie asked, winking at Emma.

Emma grinned back. "Don't think so. I mean, Noah and Kendra are coming."

Susan looked down at her plate, giving it a confused look.

"What?" Emma inquired, taking another bite and washing it down with milk.

"I was just wondering why your grandfather and Mike still seem so close. He is his ex-girlfriend's father." Susan pointed out.

"That's because Mike's helping him find out about what happened to my mom." Emma said obviously.

"Huh?" Susan asked, looking even more confused than before.

"You didn't know that?" Emma said with raised eyebrows. Susan shook her head with a bitter, remorseful smile. "The last place she was seen alive was the Saddle Ranch bar, that's why they think someone on Wisteria Lane killed her."

"Wow." Susan said softly, pursing her lips at her own food. "Does he know anything else yet?"

"I don't know. I can ask. Why?"

"Just curious."

Emma grinned over at Julie again, a grin that quickly disappeared as she took another bite of macaroni.

That next morning, a very strange group of people approached Pine Avenue. If anyone had happened to be watching out the window at the time of their arrival, it would have looked a lot like a funeral procession heading over to the house that was their destination. Emma's hand clutched her Ipod, beginning to think that it wasn't enough incentive to do what she was about to do. Susan glanced worriedly from Emma, to Julie, to Mike, and then back to Emma. Tension was all over the group, and it wasn't helping the mood needed to talk with Emma's adoptive parents. It probably didn't help that half the group didn't know each other. Mike's hand reached for Emma's and squeezed it reassuringly. She managed a small, nervous smile as she rang the doorbell. Mike looked just as nervous as Emma, the man who lived here was also the man who shot him while he was looking for any record of Deirdre living there. A woman opened up the door and was shocked to see Emma and dive other virtually unfamiliar people crowding her porch. "Emma! You're okay! Where have you been?" she asked, crossing her arms unconsciously.

Emma didn't answer, only shrugging.

The woman noticed Mike behind her and her eyes widened in recognition. "How about you all come inside, I'd love to talk for a little while." she said, staring mostly at Mike.

Emma led the way into the living room and sank onto the leather chair in the room gratefully, raising her eyebrows at her adoptive mother plaintively as she sat down across from her. Julie lounged on the floor next to Kendra, while Susan and Mike sat pretty close together on the couch and Noah sat down in a chair; surveying the woman across from Emma with an unreadable look on his face.

"So, Emma!" the woman said in a falsely cheery voice. "Where've you been?"

Emma shrugged again, glowering at the floor. Noah, anticipating the situation, headed over and whispered something in her ear. Emma smirked and turned back to the woman. Mike rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "I was staying with her." Emma said, pointing to Julie and still smirking.

The woman glanced at Julie, then from her to Kendra; confusion obvious in her expression.

"Not me." Kendra volunteered. "I'm just her aunt."

"I'm Susan Mayer. Nice to meet you." Susan injected, brushing not-so-accidentally against Mike as she leaned over to shake the woman's hand. "Emma is friends with my daughter, Julie."

Mike tensed as Susan leaned over and he got a clear view of more than he should've seen at that particular moment.

Emma snorted as she noticed the silent, non-obvious **_something_** going on between Susan and Mike, causing her adoptive mother to move her gaze from Susan to her.

"I'm moving out." Emma announced.

"To live with who?" the woman replied scathingly. "Your friend Julie?"

"No. With Mike." Emma snapped, glaring at the woman angrily.

Mike stuck a hand out for her to shake. She didn't take it. "Emma is our daughter, we raised her." the woman defended.

"This isn't a discussion."Emma said in an uncharacteristically low, angry voice. "Are the boxes in the truck, Mike?"

"Yeah, go ahead and get 'em." he said heavily.

As soon as Emma neared the door, the same man who had shot Mike grabbed her arm and twisted it back behind her head, making her wince in pain. Mike and Noah immediately leapt up and headed menacingly toward the man. Mike's hand instinctively reached for his gun, but Noah touched his arm lightly and shook his head. Emma whimpered as the man twisted her arm farther back. The woman got up to try to stop him, but Noah held her back.

"Let her go." Mike snapped.

The man released Emma and she immediately ran out the door and towards the car. Susan stood up to follow her but this time Julie shook her head. "I'll handle it." she said reassuringly, heading out the door. Susan sighed and sat back down. After a few minutes, Mike followed Julie's path out the door.

"He probably didn't remember who I was." Emma was explaining when he found the two girls sitting on the back of his truck. When she saw Mike, she immediately quieted.

"You okay?" he asked gently.

Emma shrugged.

"Let me see your arm." he ordered.

"No." she replied fearfully, backing into the truck.

"Emma..." Mike sighed. He reached out to try to touch her shoulder, but she pulled away.

"Leave me alone." she managed.

Mike ignored her and firmly gripped her shoulder as he pulled up the sleeve of her left arm. A bruise was starting to bloom from her lower arm to her elbow. Mike touched it lightly and she winced. "You shouldn't pack with this, or its gonna get worse."

"I'm fine." Emma said softly, pulling her sleeve back down. Mike looked unconvinced, but nodded.

"I'll help." Julie volunteered, lifting two boxes out of the truck. Susan exited the house.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Emma nodded. "I'm good." She gestured to the boxes. "Wanna help us pack?"

"It'll be the highlight of my day." she said sarcastically, taking some boxes out of the truck.

Emma rolled her eyes and led the way into her room. The walls were painted a light purple color, and posters occupied most of the room. She immedieatly started removing her posters from the wall and rolling them up. Julie and Mike followed her lead while Susan tackled the sheets on Emma's bed; putting them carefully into a box. Emma's adoptive mother watched tearfully from the doorway as they packed. "I don't think I caught your name." Mike said.

"Anita." the woman said softly. "Anita Parker."

Mike nodded and turned back to Emma, who was at her closet alternating between stuffing clothes into a duffel bag and putting them into a box. "What's the bag for?" he asked.

"Well, I need some clothes to live on while I get unpacked." Emma said obviously.

Noah appeared in the doorway. "Mike." he said. Mike lept up and follwed him out the door toward a more private spot. Susan followed him out the door with her eyes. "I'm gonna...get some water." she lied, hurrying after Mike. Julie raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. Emma grabbed and envelpe and hastily scrawled "Susan" on the outside. Susan reentered the room, closely followed by Mike. Spying the envelope, Mike picked it up and stared up at Emma in confusion. Emma cleared her throat. "My Dearest, Darling, Susan." she started in a purposely overdramatic voice. "Please, please forgive me for my terrible act. When I killed that man, I was-" She was cut off by Mike lunging for the letter, causing her to quickly throw the piece of paper to Julie. She caught it deftly in her hand, and continued where Emma had left off. "-possessed by demonic spirits. The spirits told me to kill the man that was-"

She threw the letter back to Emma as Susan reached for the paper. "Sleeping with my ex-girlfriend's sister."Emma continued quickly.

"Hey!" Kendra exclaimed angrily from the doorway. Julie sent her an apologetic glance, but Kendra shrugged as if to say "No problem."

"That's enough." Mike warned, reaching for the letter.

"What's going on?" Noah demanded, walking into the room.

"We were just narrating Mr. Delfino's very deep, emotional, and romantic letter to my mom. Wanna hear it?" Julie baited, winking over at Emma.

"Sure." Noah replied warily.

Emma and Julie glanced once at each other before beginning to sing. "Veggie Tales, Veggie Tales, Veggie Tales-" in obnoxiously high-pitched voices.

"Oh, come on." Mike muttered after two minutes of nonstop singing. "Stop it!"

Emma shut up; and continued to pack up her room.

When all the boxes were carefully loaded into Mike's truck, Emma said goodbye to Anita and left with Mike, going back to Wisteria Lane along with Susan and Julie.

"Thanks so much for having me." she told Susan gratefully.

"It was our pleasure." Susan assured her kindly. "Come back, you know, whenever."

"Thanks." she said quietly as Susan and Julie headed back to their own house. She turned toward the door of her new home. "I guess this is home." she murmured.

Mike kissed her once on the top of her head. "Welcome home, Emma."

I am SO sorry it took me this long to update this...I feel horrible. Hopefully you guys are still somewhat interested in the story, I had lost it there for a while. I'll try to make updates more regular, and I hope you enjoyed the long overdue chapter!


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